Yep, It’s Halloween, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

***********************************

It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

It's Halloween, time for weird stuff.

The yellow and black item in the photo is Carl's costume for the party this Friday.

Yes, i managed to get it back into the package and in his car, so when he gets off work Friday and goes to the party immediately after, it's already there.

His mom says he's already been to a couple of parties.

The pants have been sprayed with stain remover, the candy wrappers were in the pocket.  This is why all pockets must be thoroughly checked.

I suggested, since he only works two days this week and has obviously been on candy overload, she might point him in the direction of the gym.  She thinks it's a splendid idea.

All this was later in the morning, though, as when i arrived he was peacefully snoozing.  I gathered all his dirty clothes and was sorting them when his father, Mr. L, walked past to go get the morning newspaper.

"Is that all from one week?  Did he dirty every piece of clothing he has?" he asked me.

I smiled and nodded, and told him most weeks, yes, it's not everything, but it's a lot.

"Yes, I've noticed every time he eats, I have to tell him to go change his shirt because he has food all down it."

That's because, i told him, he won't actually tie is apron on, so it does no good, it flaps around and the food lands where the apron should be but isn't.

Mr. L rolled his eyes and we both laughed, then he went for the paper and i went on sorting.  We both know Carl is Carl, and always will be.

Carl really didn't get up much while i was there and the first time was the usual, "My breath!"

At least he knows and takes care of it, although since he goes right back to sleep, I'm not sure how much it helps.  He also brushes multiple times a day.

He later came in for deodorant (i'm not even going to try the discussion about showering first again, it's a lost cause) and to tell me all about the online games he played over the weekend.

"It has bison and wolves!" he told me excitedly.  Then he talked about another one, with spiders in the cave.  He's not a fan of spiders, it's one of the few things he will panic over, seeing a spider.  I guess the virtual ones didn't bother him as much, or maybe he was all about eliminating them, i couldn't quite tell from what he said.

We discussed the party on Friday, i told him his costume was in the car and showed him he has a roll of quarters and a roll of dimes, which is $15, enough for the party.  

The host last year made the mistake of trying to coordinate a group of special needs people to come to a party and all bring food, and they ended with too much of some things and not enough of others.  This year, the host is providing drinks and desserts and games, and ordering food, asking for $12 from each person instead of them bringing anything.  I know how much Carl eats, and think it would be nice if he'd just give the little bit extra, and his mom agrees.

A Monday is not over when i leave Carl's and today it was to go to Ms. D's place.  She met me at the door and said, "Come in and get some ice and then go home.  My bathrooms flooded and I'm waiting for a plumber and there's nothing you can do."

I'm not me for nothing, i got in the house and got to the bottom of a few things.  Last week, she had a plumber come and clean out her sewer line.  Almost immediately her shower drain slowed, and then that morning she flushed a toilet and there was water everywhere.

She'd used up almost every towel in the house and put in an emergency call for the plumber.  She had also taken sheets off the bed Sunday after her sisters left (they'd come to visit), so i told her there was no way i was going home, i was taking all her sheets and towels and heading to the laundromat.

Her eyes got big and i noted, you can't wash any of this stuff here, you can't use your washer at all until this is resolved, and what if you end up needing a towel for something in the meantime?  Even when it's fixed, the washer is good for only small loads or it becomes unbalanced, it would take a long time to do this much laundry.

We bagged up all the towels, which were drying in the sun in the back yard, all the sheets, and off i went.  Once i had them washed and safely in the dryer for the hour it takes towels to dry, i ran an errand, came back to fold the sheets and towels, and took everything back to her.

Ms. D was most happy and we talked about her calling her insurance company.  I gave her a huge warning to not use the "flood" word, if you use it you can be sure there will be trouble and possibly no help from your insurance.

You have possible water damage from a plumbing problem, i told her over and over.  We talked about the company which can come out and set up the fans to dry everything out to prevent damage.  If her insurance offers to send them, she needs to allow it, because if she doesn't and there's damage later, it won't be covered.

I left and told her to call if the plumber didn't come or she needed anything else, and plan to follow up today.

Instead of asking what other curves Halloween week is going to throw at me, let's just have some funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

***********************************

Today is:

Bring Your Jack-O-Lantern to Work Day -- just check the fire code before you light that candle

Celtic Tree Month Negetal (Reed) begins

Dia do Servidor Publico -- Brazil (Civil Servants' Day)

Flying Baby Day -- celebrating the first baby born on an airplane on this day in 1929

Fyribod (or Forebode) -- Ancient Norse Calendar (announces the beginning of winter; date approximate)

Hari Sumpah Pemuda -- Indonesia (Youth Pledge Day)

Independence Day -- Czechoslovakia (from Austria-Hungary in 1918; still celebrated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

International Animation Day -- ASIFA (to honor the day Emile Reynaud presented the first animation to the public)

Isia -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (dates approximate; first day of the 6 day Isis festival)

Milvian Bridge Day -- Christian (day to reflect on the interrelationship of religion and government)

National Chocolate Day

Okunchi Matsuri -- Karatsu, Japan (with floats that date back to the 1800s; through the 30th)

Oxi Day / Greek National Day -- Greece (Sometimes "Ochi" or "Ohi", literally "No Day", celebrating resistance to Mussolini.)

Plush Animal Lovers' Day -- internet generated; celebrate your love of stuffed animals today

Runic Half-month Hagal (hailstone) begin

St. Jude Thaddeus' Day (Patron of desperate or hopeless cases -- the reason Danny Thomas chose this saint to invoke as patron of the hospital he helped found.)

St. Paraskevi of Iconium's Day (Patron of fairs and traders; in Russia, patron of marriage; associated in Ukraine with Mokosh, the ancient women's divinity, and celebrated on the final Friday of the month)

St. Simon the Zealot's Day (Patron of curriers, sawmen, tanners)

Wild Foods Day -- as in, grown or caught in the wild (please be careful if you like mushrooms and want to gather your own!)

Anniversaries Today:

Statue of Liberty dedicated, 1886

Maimonides College is founded, 1867 (first Jewish college in the US)

R.H. Macy & Co. in NYC opens, 1858

Founding of Harvard University, 1636

Universidad Santo Tomas Aquino is established, 1538 (first university in the New World)

Birthdays Today:

Matt Smith, 1982

Joaquin Phoenix, 1974

Brad Paisley, 1972

Jeremy Davies, 1969

Julia Roberts, 1967

Andy Richter, 1966

Jami Gertz, 1965

Daphne Zuniga, 1962

Lauren Holly, 1963

Bill Gates, 1955

Annie Potts, 1952

Bruce Jenner, 1949

Telma Hopkins, 1948

Dennis Franz, 1944

Jane Alexander, 1939

Charlie Daniels, 1936

Cleo Laine, 1927

Jonas Salk, 1914

Francis Bacon, 1909

Edith Head, 1907

Howard Hanson, 1896

Georges Auguste Escoffier, 1846

Desiderius Erasmus, 1467

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Jack Benny Program"(TV), 1950

"Dead End"(Play), 1935

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathetique(Tchaikovsky Op. 74), 1893

Today in History:

Constantine the Great defeats Maxentius, 312

Battle of Yaunis Khan in which Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza, 1516

Battle of Amba Sel, in which Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia; the southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control, 1531

Peruvian cities of Lima & Callao are demolished by an earthquake, 18,000 die, 1746

Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin, 1793

The first railroad in Spain, between Barcelona and Mataro, is opened, 1848

The Statue of Liberty is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland, and celebrated by the first ticker tape/confetti parade in NYC, 1886

An earthquake strikes Mino-Owari, Japan, kills 7,300, 1891

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its première performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer's death, 1893

The St. Louis police try a new investigation method -- fingerprints, 1904

Czechoslovakia gains its independence in the break up of Austria-Hungary, 1918

The Volstead Act, passed by Congress over Wilson's veto, starts Prohibition, 1919

The first coast to coast radio broadcast of a football game, 1922

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary, 1936

The Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway) is completed through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, 1942

Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT, 1948

The modern Kingdom of the Netherlands is re-founded as a federal monarchy, 1954

Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba, 1962

Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, is promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of responsibility for the death of Jesus, 1965*

Britain launches its first satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket, 1971

The centenary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty is celebrated in New York Harbor, 1986

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina, 2007

The US celebrates the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, 2011

The World Health Organization ranks tuberculosis alongside HIV as 2014's two deadliest infectious diseases, 2015

The EU agrees to another Brexit extension to January 31 2020, 2019

The fifteenth-century medieval manuscript "The Book of Lismore", returns to Ireland after being donated by Chatsworth Settlement to University College Cork, 2020

Palestinian authorities in Jericho, West Bank unveil the restored floor mosaic in Hisham's Palace, one of the world's largest floor mosaics and dating from 660-750AD, 2021

Swedish engineers produce the world's first female crash test dummy which is not just a scaled down version of the male model, 2022

The UK records its lowest-ever fertility rate, with only 591,072 births in England and Wales, the lowest in 172 years, 2024